AUBURN — Edward Little coach Norm Gagne told Ben Cassidy to not try to be a hero, but it was Cassidy whom the Red Eddies were mobbing after an overtime victory in Tuesday’s Class A North boys hockey quarterfinal.

Cassidy fed Jack Keefe for the game-winning goal with 1:30 left in the extra period to avoid an upset against No. 5 Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse/Hyde with a 2-1 win at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

Eagles (8-10-1) freshman goalie Sean Moore made 42 saves, including the first 32 shots he faced before Cassidy scored on his own rebound of a redirected Gage Doucette shot with eight minutes left in regulation.

“He seemed like he was making every single save,” Keefe said.

“Sean stood on his head, which he did for us time and time again this year,” Eagles coach A.J. Kavanaugh said.

Cassidy’s goal appeared as though it would be enough for the fourth-seeded Red Eddies (13-6) to hold off the Eagles, but an EL timeout with eight seconds left gave the Eagles one last offensive zone faceoff.

“The play was to throw all three — we threw three guys in the weakside there, and have them just crash the net,” Kavanaugh said.

Cassidy won the faceoff against Noah Austin, but the Eagles eventually got control behind the net. The puck made its way to Austin, who tried to force it in from the right side, but it was Cam Poisson at the left post who tied the game with 0.6 seconds left.

“It was amazing. I couldn’t believe it went in,” said Moore, who was on the bench after being pulled for an extra skater. “I was praying for that to go in, and it happened. The boys worked hard.”

“I’ll thank Norm later for that timeout because it let us draw it up, and it worked out pretty well for us,” Kavanaugh said.

Gagne said he was proud that his team “battled back really well” after what could have been a crushing game-tying goal. The Red Eddies sent three shots at Moore before Keefe and Cassidy hooked up on the overtime winner.

“I had the puck, passed it to Ben Cassidy. I saw him coming around the net, and we practice this play in practice, and he slid it over. I just got it,” Keefe, a freshman, said.

“(Ben) made a great play. And I told the kids going into that overtime, I said, ‘You guys are going to get that opportunity, you got to bury that.’ And he saw (Jack),” Gagne said. “And I also told him, ‘Trust your teammates. You’ve got to move the puck, and don’t try to be a hero.’ And he didn’t. He’s a great captain. He knew what he had to do, and he and Jack play really well together.”

The Red Eddies planned for Austin trying to play the hero, but made it their mission to not let the top scorer in Class A beat them.

“They covered him in the middle. You know, Noah is very good in the middle of the ice,” Kavanaugh said. “He was able to get out of zone at times, but neutral zone they really collapsed on him, and we had trouble getting pucks deep.”

Austin, who attends Lisbon High School, had three of the Eagles’ four shots on goal in the first period, but he and the rest of the Eagles were shut out in the second. Austin finishes his career with 98 goals and 66 assists.

“We had to shut down No. 11, we knew that,” Gagne said.

Devon D’Auteuil stopped eight of nine shots in goal for EL. Moore, who said he didn’t really have any nerves, stopped 42 of 44.

The Red Eddies now advance to the regional semifinals, where they will face No. 1 Lewiston.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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